One of the greatest rivalries in sports will be rekindled this Labor Day.
Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi will face off in a hot dog eating contest to see who can eat a frankfurter the fastest in history, streaming live on Netflix on Sept. 2, the streamer announced Wednesday.
The announcement of the “Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef” special came just 24 hours after The Washington Post broke the news that Chestnut had been banned from the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest in Coney Island on July 4th.
The two foodies haven’t faced off in a hot dog eating contest since 2009, when Chestnut beat Kobayashi in a sudden-death eating contest.
Chestnut, 40, and Kobayashi, 46, have won the hot dog eating championship 22 times between them, and their fierce battles have become the stuff of major league eating legend.
“Kobayashi has been my toughest rival throughout my career in competitive eating,” Chestnut said in a statement. “Competing against him has made me a better person. I know fans have been waiting a long time for a new chapter in our rivalry and I can’t wait for our big showdown to air live on Netflix. It’s time to give you all what you want!”
Kobayashi won the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest six times in a row from 2001 to 2006, but was barred from competing due to a contractual dispute with Major League Eating, which sanctions the annual contest.
He appeared to announce his retirement in a Netflix documentary earlier this year, but Wednesday’s announcement suggested that was just a “rumor.”
“I will retire after I beat him one last time,” Kobayashi said. “This rivalry has been building for a long time, and facing Joey on Netflix means fans all over the world can watch me beat him.”
The location and time of the event have not been announced, and it is unclear how much Netflix will pay Chestnut and Kobayashi for the match.
The announcement marks the streamer’s latest pivot into live sports, and the company isn’t new to dipping its toes into the live sports streaming business.
Netflix announced that it had inked a deal with the NFL to stream two NFL games this Christmas and was set to stream a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul.
The streamer plans to air “WWE Raw” weekly starting in 2025.
